Butterfly :: {NSM!}

A four legged butterfly.
How intensely interesting is that?! Read on if you are mystified... or even if you're not. You might learn something.
I did!! :)

Well, I promised a post, and I can't say that it'll be super interesting to everyone, but we certainly enjoyed ourselves! ;) Hopefully, you are getting outside (daily?) already and enjoying yourselves just as much this March in your own corner of the world! I know that at least several of you are doing just that and were mighty quick on the draw with your posts. Three of you beat me to the linky! Shoot. I can get the nature studies done, but the posts... Well, all I can say is, I claim tired-exammed-out-prego brain.

{Please do share your nature study posts for the month! See the linky below... AND there's a group of my fellow AOer's attempting to get outside everyday this month. Wanna join them?}

There's the evidence. Look closely, it seems to have only four legs. How is that possible? Don't all insects have six? We'll get to that. Meanwhile, have you ever noticed the names of butterflies...? How 'bout a Grecian Shoemaker, Red Admiral, Isabella, Julia, Esmeralda, Mosaic, Wizard, Common Map... Wow. Cool names! Well, some of them anyway. A few of them are rather common... poor guy.

I'm pretty sure we've narrowed down the possible identity of ours to a Tiger Butterfly, a Large Tiger or a mimicry of one or the other. It's not exactly like the pictures in the book, but it does say they vary. The antennae of ours isn't orange like the typical Tiger Butterfly, rather more similar to those of the Large Tiger. Its markings are not as like the latter's as to those of the former. So, you see, I don't know. However, both are part of the Nymphalidae family, which means it is a relative of "some of the world's most beautiful and spectacular butterflies," according to my book. And what's really cool is I recognize a good number from this family.

Either way, it was fun looking it up. :)

I mentioned that we read it might be a mimicry of something else, and so we were surprised by joy when we just happened upon this interesting tidbit:

"Poisonous butterflies of the same species often fly together so that their warning colors are more easily recognized. A number of poisonous species even share a similar warning pattern. In this way, birds have only to learn that one species is poisonous to avoid all the rest. Some nonpoisonous species mimi poisonous species, so that they too are left alone. In the past, these mimicry associations have confused entomologists, who have only recognized one species where several in fact existed."

Butterflies and Moths by David Carter

So, there you have it. We may have discovered a new species. You just never know. If so, I want everyone to note the date of this post. Just in case. :)

As to the question of legs:
My kids are the ones who pointed out to me that the butterfly only had four legs. I said, "All insects have six", and then I looked very, very closely and can I just say it's third pair seemed very non-existent? I told the kids they must be there... somewhere. I even showed them where they could be completely and perfectly hidden... practically invisible even. But, as motherly as possible, I kept my doubts to myself.

I admit, I looked it up tonight for backup. In the book it says reassuringly, "The most important characteristic separating this large group from other species of butterfly is the front pair of legs, which are usually undeveloped so they no longer have a walking function." So there. Apparently, in many butterflies (not just this mutant family), the first pair of legs are short or kept folded up. Such is the case with our butterfly. Phew. I'm glad I was right. :) I can't wait to tell the kids.

Oh, and, we are not the only ones to have doubted. Just do a google search. It's funny. Apparently, it's a common question. :)


Want a really great butterfly book?
Here's the one I use the most: (and you can get it super cheap!)(and at the same time throw us a tip since it's an affiliate link and all)

The {Nature Study Monday} link up is for ANY nature study-ish blog post written at any time during the current month. Which means, when you submit your link, it will show up in every. single. {NSM} post. during the whole month! Oh, and be not confused, feel free to link up on any day, be it Monday or not! 

Snag a button if you wanna! :)
Come back and share your nature studies with us any time this month!

Izula - Bullet Ant - Paraponera Clavata, aka: Scary bugs! & {NSM}

'kay. So, we have BULLET ants in our house. Regularly. Um... yep. Those gigantic ants purported to have the most painful sting among insects alive today?! Yes, those ones. Bet you can't guess why they're called Bullet Ants?! A guy who has reportedly seen some in a jungle near ours, shares his ideas about that name here. But don't worry, they're common; we've seen tons. You know, in our house even... I just skim all these sites touting the exotic Izula, the Paraponera Clavata, and think... got one in my living room. Beat that!



At about an inch in length, that's about life size!
Every now and then, and there's no telling when, we'll find one of these ugly bugs galavanting around one of our rooms or flaunting himself down the hallway. You know, just walking around, checking things out. They like our place, I guess.

Usually about an inch long, they have beady black eyes, wicked looking chompers (mandibles) and a kind of wasp-like looking body. They have hairs on their abdomen and legs. They sport segmented antennae and a yellow section on their foremost legs. In my opinion, they are rather formidable looking... Oh, and did I mention they squeak? Yep, they make a sound when they're startled or bothered (we can make them squeak, but cannot yet communicate with them enough to know the exact squeak-causing emotion).



Check out those chompers...
According to those who know, these puppies bite AND sting. Thankfully, we've experienced neither, and I'm not eager to try my luck. We've trapped a few for observation, but squish most of them. Currently, we have three in captivity. Siah, the animal whisperer, found all of our current guests two evenings ago. Two were inside the house, one with wings (possibly a female) and one without. Later, when the kids were out with the dogs after dark, barefoot, he walked right next to another, this one without wings. Oh, for grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be!

Everyone here knows and avoids the Izula. Many friends report the sting is very painful. Our neighbor said he felt the throbbing up his arm and it made his heart beat similar to, he thought, a heart attack. I can tell you, just looking at one of these beasties makes my heart beat faster! Yuckity. Besides feeling like a gunshot, the sting will cause fever, which is why I'm getting a bit anxious to fumigate our house again ASAP. I'm not really into having one of my kids accidentally stung. Nope, that would not be a happy day.



Yikes. :S
There are many interesting tidbits like, ancient rituals involving getting bit multiple times on purpose for rites of passage, mentioned around the web, particularly in the comments of this blog post. And apparently, according to that blog author, the classification for this giant ant is debatable for some who want to claim it as some evolutionary proof of something or other? I thought it interesting that, supposedly, the only other one kinda similar is found in a fossil? That's cool.

Anyway, the kids have been having much fun with these guys. They think they're pretty brave to have them in their house AND to keep them around. I think it's kinda crazy and kinda cool, as long as there are no prison breaks. We did a more in-depth study this time around, thus this blog post. The kids are learning lots from observation and are gonna share their photos and info with a couple of the sites we found, to report their findings. That should be interesting.



The ants' quarters
I've come a long way with bugs, let me tell you. I used to be pretty nervous around your medium-to-average house spider, and I'd become semi-paralyzed with fear around bees or wasps. Yep. Bullet ants, baby... in my house. God definitely has a sense of humor. :)

Q: How do you react to scary bugs/creatures?! Are you able to remain calm and reasonable or do you freak out? How do your kids do? 

The {Nature Study Monday} link up is for ANY nature study-ish blog post written at any time during the current month. Which means, when you submit your link, it will show up in every. single. {NSM} post. during the whole month! Oh, and be not confused, feel free to link up on any day, be it Monday or not! (scroll down for linky).

Naturally, it's November... {NSM! linkup}

But can you honestly believe it?! November?! As in a month and a half 'til it's a new year?! My life is flying before my eyes. Speaking of flying and flitting, would you believe we landed in moth mecca? It was incredible. I've never seen so many moths in one place, let alone of such variety! Of course, I'll tell you about it! Just let's start at the beginning of the story...

At the end of last month, we took one of our rousing and rollicking road-trips across the entire country of Peru. Jungle, Andes, Pacific coast all in one really long day (though we usually split it into two pretty long days)! Oh, and there were 9 of us this time. My mom joined us almost directly off the plane, and there was Christine, who is cheerfulness in the flesh, plus the regular seven of the Tuttle Tribe. Yep, first it was 13 hours easterly, then 3 hours straight south on the Panamerican Highway and we were once again arrived in the coastal city of Trujillo. We were there for a record short amount of time (5 extremely busy days). Still, it was long enough for my brother recently arrived from the States, to surprise us all by ringing the doorbell of the house we were staying at, early on Siah's birthday! Then it was pack all back in the Jack (the name of our minivan); this time with 10. Boy, was that exciting! :)

We got to do a little more site-seeing this trip due to being blessed with guests, but I'd better leave most of those details to a different story since this one is supposed to get back around to moths (don't worry, we're getting there). After a long drive the first day, we stayed in a hotel, uh, hostal... well, no. It really was just a very rustic house way up in the mountains. I hope the pictures we took will do it justice. On the second night, we stayed at an honest to goodness hostal, which was also up in the mountains, only not so high up. It was slightly more modern, except they were far from honest, cold-heartedly cheating us out of the pledged, pre-paid and earnestly yearned for breakfast the next morning. After all these long days climbing mountains and such, and little sleep, the third night, we merited a stay at the White House (La Casa Blanca), a hotel built practically on the highway, traffic sounds and party-people noise included at no extra charge. It was a grand adventure to say the least.

That last day, we had a long drive ahead of us. We were all exhausted and quite ready to be on the homeward track. About an hour down the road (or up it, would probably be more accurate), we were surprised and super excited (...moths?! not yet... we're almost there, I promise.) We hit the jackpot! A gas station that offered GLP (autogas, LPG or liquified petroleum gas, to be exact)! This was very exciting, as it is the first station on the very long route across the mountains and this type of gas cuts our travel expense drastically. We pulled in, half expecting that the sign would be false and they would not have GLP as is so often the case. But, we not only found what we were looking for, we found what must otherwise be known in the Lepidoptera world as Moth Mecca. It was incredible. We were so tired we thought we were dreaming, but lo and behold, the pictures are on my camera to prove it!

There were thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of moths, everywhere. Not flitting and flapping in a way that might make one nervous. They were all just placidly sitting there sunning their wings. Or something. How would I know what they were thinking of doing? Apparently, in that place practically in the middle of nowhere, they have big lights on after dark, and though it was mid-morning by the time we pulled in, there were still a myriad of moths all over the pavement, building, garbage cans, everywhere. It was awesome.

So, aspiring to be a good nature study mama as I do, I got out of the car, made everyone else get out, and I gazed and I ooh'ed and ahh'ed and I took lots of pictures of moths. We ourselves were the marvel of the Peruvian gas station attendants. They couldn't believe how interested we were in those bugs. They even stopped sweeping up the mass of winged wonders while we were there so that we could get a really good look. :)

Well, after all, I don't know if the story was worth the wait, but I was really excited about it and the pictures. Below are some of them. See if you can see a pattern. Next, maybe you can find the one that is not like the others. Lastly, there is one who rebelliously refused to stay put in line like the clown he is colored after. And if any of you actually look and find these, you are truly worthy of my awe and gratitude for the interest you have taken in this here extremely lengthy blog post.


Super lovely, wouldn't you say?!

The yellow with black spotted ones were all about the same size, with approx. 2 1/2 inches wing-span, which may give context to the others you see them next to. it makes that one VERY pretty moth, my favorite, look very large.


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The {Nature Study Monday} link up is for ANY nature study-ish blog post written at any time during the current month. Which means, when you submit your link, it will show up in every. single. {NSM} post. during the whole month! Oh, and be not confused, feel free to link up on any day, be it Monday or not! (scroll down for linky).

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Our Week in Nature! {NSM}

My friend Tammy says that I find the most amazing bugs. Well, that's probably only half true. I should admit of several possibly unfair advantages. For one, I have an extra ten pair* of eyes {ahem... edit required. that would be *five pair, ten total. now, how many of you actually counted??} Many times the first sighting is accomplished by one of those extended pair. Second, we live in a place with an AMAZING amount of insects. I think I can safely say that not a day goes by that I fail to see something awesome. If I am looking, that is.

Without an internet connection, it's amazing what you have time for; the things you see and can get done! I don't even get to be online tons because of a limited source of internet, but as that ran out last month, I found myself without the wisp of a possibility and I felt as free as the birds for a whole week! Here are a few of our sightings... Lamentably, I don't always get photos of everything!

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I have really enjoyed reading your posts! SO. much. goodness.
Please keep sharing them!

If you care to tell others, I'd love if we were able to share more nature study encouragement!! This is the last week to add posts to April's Nature Study Monday Linky! (Of course, we'll start it all again next month with a brand spankin' new linky,  but I just thought I'd add that this one will close on the last day of April. :)

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The Face of a Friend {NSM}

While we were trying to identify this moth in a HUGE book of Butterflies and Moths...

Whoa! check out that tail...

...flipping through the field guide, we came upon the picture of this moth we'd found and pinned last month.

Funny, we hadn't looked it up before. However, I do know WHY we didn't look it up. Same story as before. Have you ever tried to identify a butterfly?! There are LOTS of different butterflies and moths in the world, and it seems like the ones we find in real life never make it into the books.

So, it can be somewhat frustrating, that.

Anyway, a thrill came over me when I happened on the page...


It was kind of like spotting the face of a friend in a crowd, or more like happening upon a familiar face in someone else's photo album. 'Cause after you've spent time with a live thing and further, repeatedly come back to gaze at it on display, it gets to be rather like the familiar face of a friend.

Perhaps it helps that the upper sides of his wings actually LOOK like a face; an owl's face, to be precise. And we have an owl that lives nearby. Right.

Speaking of moths and butterflies...

Have you heard about Maria Sibylla Merian?! Thanks to Google, I recently learned about this awesome lady, who I am sure I would have longed to be familiar face-to-face friends with, had I too lived in the 1600's. She travelled all the way to South America to study insects... Yes. Go ahead and read that again. A woman. In the 1600's. Who travelled to S.America to study insects. Amazing.
You can read/see more about her right here:




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'kay, so we're accumulating posts here for April's nature studies... care to join us?

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orthoptera. sounds like...? {NSM}

helicóptero. that's helicopter in spanish. okay, so it doesn't really sound anything like it if you pronounce both words correctly in their respective languages... but still, one reminds me of the other. ;) which got me thinking, i bet there's some correlation with word roots, prefixes, suffixes and stuff... which got me looking around a bit, and i happened upon a very cool site with the following information, which may or may not be of interest to you:

orth(o)– {straight, correct}:anorthite, orthochromatic, orthoclase, orthodontia, orthodox, orthognathic, orthogonal, orthographic, orthopedic, Orthoptera, orthotics, orthotropic || Gr orthos: straight, correct

pter– {feather, wing}: apterous, apteryx, brachypterous, Chiroptera, Coleoptera, Diptera, helicopter, Hemiptera, Heteroptera, Isoptera, Lepidoptera, Mecoptera, ornithopter, pterodactyl, pterosaur, Siphonoptera, Trichoptera, accipiter ||  Gr  pteron: wing, feather


of course, i could have just looked up the word in a dictionary... which says:

ORIGIN modern Latin (plural), from ortho-‘straight’ + Greek pteros ‘wing.’

right. that would've been quicker.
but, i'd never have found the cool site with the cool name. cognatarium. that's cool.
(see helpful links, below)

i knew it had to do with language. i love learning languages. root words are super helpful with that!


we caught most of these a couple of days ago... but saved the study part over 'til today.

so this week we covered: waterfall. newt. ground cricket. round headed katydid.
i added all the orthopteras to that page in my nature journal. do you think those leaves might have been similar to those that eve used?

helpful links:

*"The Cognātarium is a lexicon of English-language cognates; that is, words related by common origin. In English many words are formed from compounds of two or more word stems from the original language. In the great majority of words listed here in this lexicon, those original words stem from ancient Latin and Greek. For example, helicopter and pterodactyl both contain the root stem pter–, which means wing in the original Greek."

*Learn that Word's Root Words & Prefixes - QUICK REFERENCE! & Suffix page

*{nature study monday!} see linky below...

It's fun to share!
Bookmark this post (or use the link in the menu bar), come back and share YOUR nature study posts for the whole month of April in the brand spankin' new LINKY right below...

Look who hopped in... {for Nature Study Monday!}

I'm always ever so thankful for whatever comes our way on nature study mondays (or any day for that matter)!
Whether we have to go looking, or whether nature comes and finds us, we'll take whatever we get! :)

Mya made the first discovery today. She pried me up from my afternoon meltdown spot with her third insistence of, 'Mom, there's a bug I think you're going to want to take a picture of!' After 'just a minute' turned into four and a half, she was back. She was lured away again with, 'See if Javen wants to take a picture with his camera...' But she came back insisting AGAIN that I would definitely want to take a picture of it.

I'm SO glad.

We were fascinated with this guy for over an hour (okay, admittedly, I was by far the most excited, but the kids were pretty captivated too!). He was SO interesting; strikingly colorful armor, perfectly smoothed black oval eyes, striped waistcoat, pygmy wings and spiky legs. And best of all, "His face looks like a wrinkled old man's." ~ Mya



Nature loving links {from the archives}:
Some Grasshopper fun
Nature Walk... call it study if you will
Nature Study Focus: Insects {part one}



Share your March nature studies with the  Nature Study Monday {March} Linky! 

Click here to share your posts!
 

Nature Study Monday {Identify that bug!}

One of our latest finds was a really big spider. While we don't try to ID every bug/spider/plant/what have you, that we find, every now and then (especially when someone asks about a blog post!), we do. Using our recently mounted specimen as an example, I'm going to walk you through what I learned about spider identification. You will probably already have figured out these simple steps on your own, or could have if you'd tried, when using the internet to ID one of your nature study finds. But, just in case you haven't ever done it, this is how to start.


step one:

g.o.o.g.l.e.

This might include something as vague as bright green bug; though, i recommend you pick something a little more specific if you can, geographical area, size, anything you might guess about it... beetle, moth, etc. Depending on how specific/general you are, this *can* be a time consuming step. Don't worry, it'll get easier the more often you do it! :)

This time, I googled spider identification because frankly, I had no idea where to begin. I came up w/ the following super helpful sites with ID tips (and lots more less helpful sites besides)...

Spider.us
Bugguide.net

{If you own field guides, you can check THEM first. I usually do. But, for a long time, I didn't own the right ones and I certainly didn't know how to use them. That takes practice.}

step two:

Check your go-to sites for local identification. Wait, you don't have any go-to sites yet? Well, to start, google 'pacific northwest bug identification', or enter wherever you are. Bookmark the most helpful sites so you can go back there time and again. Local guides are probably going to be your best bet, apart from the really big famous sites. There will be links to info that will help you narrow down your search.

For example, I found: http://www.latinamericaninsects.net/
Here's a non-comforting site I ran into. I became even more uncomfortable when I noticed that the very poisonous spider talked about there (made it into Guiness Book of World Records?), looks similar to mine very own dead one currently sitting on my dining room table for display. eek!

{If you have field guide books, pull those out if you haven't already! I really prefer the books, but have found that they are somewhat limited (especially when you live somewhere other than N.America). The good thing about the books though, is they are specific to your region, and usually walk you through the steps to identification and classification. I like that.}

step three:

Using the above steps you'll probably latch onto some leads in the direction you want to go. If not, you can check out some of the following sites that will ID the critter for you!

spiders:
spiders.us - check out their ID guide and then the forum.
arachnoboards.com
bugguide.net (spider page)
American Museum of Natural History - spider research
The World Spider Catalog

bugs:
bugguide.net
reddit.com/r/whatsthisbug

One thing I learned about identifying spiders that I never would have guessed is, they have eye patterns specific to their families. Which might seem normal to you, but certainly didn't occur to me. In our family, three have brown eyes, two greyish-green, one hazel and one blue, so this wasn't a no-brainer... I never would've guessed it was a deciding factor for spiders!

Another interesting tidbit is that most spiders found in North America are harmless; which is good to know if you live there. Of course, South America is NOT so tame.

Well, chances are some of you could probably teach me a thing or two about identifying insects and other invertebrates... please feel free to leave any helpful hints in the comments! ;)



This has been another Nature Study Monday, and is linked to January's NSM post, where you too can link to your nature study posts to share in the month of January. My goal is to post about our nature studies at least twice a month (1st & 3rd Mondays), but you can link up anytime to any of the NSM posts to share! Click here to see other posts.

Nature Study Monday - Link up. {Mounting an Insect}

In just a few words, but with lots of pictures which are worth more, I'm gonna show you our latest nature study project. We did in fact find this inside our house, but that's nothing new. Thankfully, it was already dead. For one, we were spared the drama, and two, we got to mount him instead of smash him! ;)

Enjoy!

 Feel free to link up your nature studies posted in the month of January. I'd love to see! Just leave your link in the comments, and snag a button if you'd like! :)

a moment.

I've watched you now a full half-hour;
Self-poised upon that yellow flower
And, little Butterfly! indeed
I know not if you sleep or feed.
How motionless!--not frozen seas
More motionless! and then
What joy awaits you, when the breeze
Hath found you out among the trees,
And calls you forth again!

from 'To a Butterfly' by William Wordsworth

Nature Study - June 8th

The real color of these flowers almost hurt my eyes they were so intensely pink.
I didn't change the coloring in the picture...


red hot cheet-o flower


centipede-on-a-stick


whirly-gig spinny flower
(obviously not its official name)


zapote. grows on trees and is not very yummy


lovely flutterby


spider checking out the view


red hot cheet-o flower, again.


we saw about 203 of these kind of butterflies flitting about.


pinon colorado (name in Spanish)


red hot cheet-o flower, again.  you may be noticing a recurrent theme by now.
these obviously caught my attention.  I still can't believe how it looks like someone pulled a cheet-o out of his pocket that had gotten mixed up with his spilled bag of previously sucked on red hot candies.


a cocoon!  woohoo!


can you see the leaf that doesn't belong?!  hilarious I was about 3 inches away from this flowering plant taking its picture when of a sudden I noticed a leaf that highly resembled a praying mantis we had caught and studied extensively last year... hahahah!

Notes for the Journal...

Weather: fresh from previous day rain.  Cloudy with some sun.
Route: We walked straight up our road, onto the high road, cut across the empty field down to the highway. We crossed the highway and found the praying mantis in the old weigh station.  Went the back road up through the empty lot, recrossed the highway at the gas station to home.
Treasures: we brought home one of the red hot cheet-o flowers and a green nut of some sort.

Nature Study Focus: Insects, Part I

So, the other day when we were doing nature study using Outdoor Hour Challenge for hints, we chose our Nature Study Focus: Insects.

We chose insects partly because we'd been recently inundated by dragonflies because of a flood in our backyard caused by excess rainwater (they lay their eggs there). The other reason being that there are amazing amounts with unending variety of insects found here in the tropical climate of this part of Peru. And then, we were also inspired by our reading of Jack's Insects on the subject, a great book used by Charlotte Mason. So far we're all really enjoying this focus.

We're starting out with:

Insects of the Brook and Pond -

Dragonflies
and
Mosquitoes

Both are plentiful around here. However, you can't exactly tell them to come around only when you want to study them, so we haven't had a close look at either during actual nature study time. Of course, nature study isn't only accomplished in the hour or so we have allotted for it each week. So, when we do see one, we drop everything for a few minutes and take a closer look.

Today, during our nature study hour (we have this scheduled for Mondays), J found a cool beetle. It looks like a combination between a grasshopper (because of its huge back legs) and a stinkbug or box elder bug. It had wings that when lifted revealed a brilliant red body. Its legs are orangey-red also with little black spines (we call them porkies... hahah, it's an inherited term, meaning pokies). We watched it and photographed it, and tried looking it up, but without using the internet, weren't able to come up with much. Here's a picture though:

The lady who helps us a little around the house called it a "chinche" in Spanish.

Spiders are not insects, but this one was interesting nonetheless. I found it crawling on my kitchen counter while I was washing dishes. Its front 2 legs on either side seemed much too long in proportion to its body and back legs with which it walked. When it was blown or swept, it would fling those long legs straight out to either side, and it made itself look somewhat like a flying insect. It was very tiny. Here it is:

Enjoy!

Amy